Perfect for 'Noi Due' (the Two of Us)...or the Whole Family

The Italian café Noi Due is on the lower level of an Upper West Side building, so it may be easy to walk right passed it if you’re not paying attention. But once you descend the stairs to the restaurant, it feels nothing like the basement space it’s in. It has a warm atmosphere and manages to feel like both an Italian café and an Italian restaurant.

 

We were greeted immediately by one of the servers, and were seated in a seat right next to the window. I glanced over the menu and was impressed with how many dozens of options there were. I thought it would be fun to share a few smaller things. We started with the funghi ripieni - stuffed mushrooms with feta cheese, baked in marinara sauce and parmigiano. They were served with a few slices of toasted bread. The marinara sauce was incredible.

 

It had so much flavor, and complimented the earthiness of the mushrooms and the saltiness of the feta cheese.

Next we had the Mediterranea salad, which had romaine lettuce, tomato, cucumber, red onion, olives, feta, za’atar, and a lemon vinaigrette. 

The salad was was really good, but there was entirely too much dressing.

A lot of the pizzas on the menu looked great, and it was definitely hard to narrow it down. We finally decided on the Melanzane E Formaggi Di Capra pizza, with marinara, goat cheese, fresh mozzarella, eggplant, spinach, and oregano. 

 

The pizza was my favorite part of the meal. It had the fantastic marinara that was served on the mushrooms, but also had a great mix of toppings.

Noi Due means “the two of us” in Italian, and it is a great location for a date, whether it’s a cup of coffee, a glass of wine, or a great Italian meal. But it is also a great spot for a group dinner, as long as you get there early enough to beat the crowd. I was there on the early side during the week and by time I left, the entire restaurant had filled up.

Noi Due
143 West 69th Street, basement level
b/t Columbus Avenue & Broadway
website
Menu Pages listing

Talia Should Be Proud

Talia’s Steakhouse has become not only a staple restaurant for Upper West Siders, but has become very popular as a destination spot for those all around the Tri-State area. The draw is very apparent from the moment you arrive.

The numerous sidewalk tables provide great seating on a nice summer evening. And the interior was dim and comfortable, albeit a bit plain.

My friend JK and I met the owner Ephraim Nagar, a lawyer turned restaurateur, who named the restaurant after his late daughter Talia. He explained how her spirit lives on in through the satisfaction and enjoyment the patrons feel during their experiences there.

We started to look over the menu, and when Ephraim walked by, I asked him what he recommended. He took the menus out of our hands and said he’d take care of ordering so we could sample a lot of the popular/best dishes. First came the Middle-Eastern platter featuring homemade hummus, Israeli salad, eggplant salad, babaganoush, coleslaw, and carrots, and each were very delicious. 

Next up was the Thai steak salad with grilled hangar steak marinated in soy sauce and lemongrass, with mixed greens, chili and red peppers, cucumbers, carrots, mushrooms, and hearts of palm. 

 

The flavor of the salad was very unique and tasty, but JK said the pieces of steak were very fatty and rubbery.

As soon as we were a few bites into the platter and salad, they were cleared away to make room for Moroccan-spiced meatballs. 

JK’s family is Moroccan and he assured me that these were so authentic they tasted just like his mother’s. They were moist and exploding with flavor in every bite.

Following the meatballs was a platter of fried appetizers including Moroccan cigars, chicken fingers, small hot dogs, and mini-borekas. These were pretty standard, and while tasty, weren’t worth filling up on. 

That plate was quickly cleared to make room for the entrees. The chicken dish had been slow-cooked in a clay pot and was some of most tender, moist chicken I’ve ever eaten. The flavor was so distinctive, and it was served with basmati rice. 

Then came the mother of all entrees: a 30oz on-the-bone prime rib for two. This was almost impressive enough to make me want to eat red meat for the first time in 15 years! 

JK said it was hands down the highest quality, leanest, most properly-cooked piece of steak he'd ever tasted. It was presented on a carving board, only adding to its appeal.

For dessert, we were served a chocolate soufflé with Tofutti vanilla ice cream and a Tofutti cheesecake. Unfortunately, the soufflé was not cooked nearly enough, and although incredibly rich and chocolately, it had the consistency of raw cake batter. 

The “cheesecake” was good, but didn’t taste anything like real cheesecake. I think true Pareve desserts would be better, rather than trying to imitate dairy desserts.

All in all this was a fantastic dining experience. Talia’s has a lot to offer everyone. There is live music played Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday nights. There is a big screen TV showing major sporting events. Children are very welcomed at the restaurant, and a special kids menu is available. And for those who are a bit more budget-conscious, Ephraim has created a very complete Recession-Proof Menu, featuring prix-fixe meals at various price points ($13, $22, $28, and $39).

Talia's Steakhouse

668 Amsterdam Avenue
b/t 92nd & 93rd Streets
website
Menu Pages listing

Almost a Total KO

Restaurant openings and closings happen every day in this city. Some new ones open with much hype and publicity surrounding them, including the latest UWS hot spot, Prime KO. Weeks before the official launch, there were emails/mailers and Facebook fan pages. Now that it has opened, there have been Page Six celebrity sightings and blog postings. So has Prime KO lived up to the hype? Yes and no.

The scene of this Japanese Kosher steakhouse is fairly typical…modern and trendy.

But, there were a few smaller touches that caught my eye, including a Samurai sword as door handle and leather walls and banquettes lining the lower level. 

As I glanced over the menu, I was surprised to see Latin-inspired items, expecting more of a straightforward Japanese menu. In order to get a real sense of the dishes, I decided to share a bunch of small plates instead of just one entree.

A complimentary tasting of guacamole was brought out to the table with a very creative presentation.

The avocado was very fresh, but the guacamole was missing some much-needed spice or kick.

We started with tuna, yellowtail, salmon, and spicy tuna ceviche tacos, which were served in a hard taco shell with guacamole and salsa. 

The fish was incredibly fresh, and the flavoring of the salsa really complimented each variety very well.

Next up was the Prime KO Special Sushi Roll, which was fantastic. This roll included miso black cod and cucumber, topped with tuna and avocado.

Dipping the rolls in soy sauce wasn’t necessary since the rolls were sitting in a delicious sweet sauce on the bottom of the plate.

We also had steamed chicken shumai, which are similar to dumplings, and stuffed with flavorful chicken and vegetables.

This was my least favorite dish. While it tasted good, it wasn’t special enough to differentiate it from the shumai that are available from any sushi take-out.

To round out the appetizers, we ordered grilled chicken yakitori skewers that were covered in a sweet teriyaki sauce.

There was a lot of sauce leftover, and we were looking for other things to dip into it…it was that good!

The service was very efficient, if not too rushed. The appetizers arrived no more than 5 minutes after our order was placed, and the entire meal took under an hour from start to finish. With many large tables, Prime KO is a great location for a big group dinner, but also has a trendy enough atmosphere to be a great date place. It was hard to come by a reservation at 7pm on a Monday, and as long as the hype remains, I don’t see the crowds letting up any time soon!

Prime KO
217 West 85th Street
b/t Amsterdam Avenue & Broadway
website (Coming soon)
Menu Pages listing

Give This Cascabel A Rattle!

A lot of restaurants receive a lot of hype and buzz when they first open. Some for good reason, and some for no reason. I wasn't sure which of those two categories Cascabel Taqueria would fit in, especially since it was a "themed" restaurant. But after reading some reviews and getting a few recommendations from friends and co-workers, I decided it was finally time to see for myself.

I met my friend LF, who works up there, for a very belated birthday dinner. Once we walked in, we realized that while there was certainly a major theme going on, it was done in a fun, kitschy way...not a cheesy way.  There was wrestling everything: murals on the walls, posters, wrestling masks.  I felt like I walked into the movie "Nacho Libre!"

I had scoped out the menu before getting there, and was pretty sure what I wanted to order. She had done that as well, and funny enough, we wanted to order the same thing.

We started out with an order of Guacamole Tradicional Con Tostada. Rather than being served with the standard tortilla chips, entire tortillas (aka tostadas) were used. 

It was a little messy to break them into bite size, but they were so fresh and salty.  The guacamole was made with avocados, tomato, chili de arbol, lime, cilantro, and garlic.  The spice factor was customizable, which was nice. We went with medium.

For our main dishes, we both ordered Tacos Vegetal.  These two tacos (with double shells) featured oyster mushrooms, fingerling potatoes, poblano, queso fresco, and  house made cream.  When they were brought out to our table, we both looked at each other thinking the food looked like a hot mess.  But buried underneath the layer of lettuce and radishes was a plate full of deliciousness. 

We decided attacking the tacos with fork and knife would be the best way to go about it.  The mushrooms and potatoes both had a great flavor to them, and were well-complimented by the queso fresco.

And for a special treat since this dinner was technically for my birthday, we ordered a few churros.  About the size of munchkin donuts, these churros were light and airy, and coated in a really good cinnamon/sugar mixture.

While there wasn't waiter service, the service there was from the cashier and the bus boys was a little shaky.  But for a casual taqueria, the expectations weren't too high. 

All in all, Cascabel is definitely a nice addition to the pricier, nicer Mexican options on the Upper East Side with a very bright, lively atmosphere.  Cascabel is named for a spicy pepper whose seeds rattle inside.  And this Cascabel definitely rattled up the Mexican restaurant scene in this neighborhood!

Cascabel Taqueria
1542 2nd Avenue
b/t 80th & 81st Streets
website
Menu Pages listing

I Sea Great Thai

Sea Thai's original location is in Williamsburg, and despite being across a bridge or under a river, it became a destination for really great Thai food even for Manhattanites. So, when the restaurant opened a location in the East Village (now closed), and then another in the Meat Packing District, a lot of loyal Sea Thai followers were very excited. For RL's birthday last year, she had a big group dinner at Sea Thai in the Meat Packing. I hadn't been to any of the locations before, so I was excited to try it.

I had actually been to the restaurant in this space a few years ago called Highline, which was also Thai/Asian fusion. The menu had changed when it re-opened as Sea Thai, but the interior remained pretty much the same: stark white and very modern with a lounge/club feel.

So many of the appetizers looked really good that a few of us couldn't narrow down what we wanted to order. MB and I decided to order a few different items and split them. Music to my ears!

We started with the emerald vegetable dumplings with a black plum sauce, triangle curry puffs stuffed with curried chicken and potato,and lettuce wraps with chicken, peanut sauce, and crispy rice noodles. All three were delicious, and a nice combination of flavors and textures. For our entree, we split chicken pad see ew, my all-time fav. And lucky for us, it was a very good version! The broad noodles were coated with a sweet black soy sauce, and mixed with chicken, broccoli, and egg.

Sea is the perfect spot for a birthday dinner, with an extensive menu and cocktail/wine list, a very cool atmosphere, and a great DJ. It has the feel of a Meat Packing restaurant without the pretentious attitude like many of the Asian fusion restaurants in the area. I think it may be time for a trip over to Williamsburg to see where Sea got its start, and see how the newbie stacks up to the original!

Sea Thai
835 Washington Street
@ Little West 12th Street
website
Menu Pages listing